Thursday, December 8, 2011

Tree Branch Art, Christmas Star

I take the children out for nature walks pretty often. Sometimes we are just on our way to the store or sometimes we head to the park. Whenever we take walks I try and give them a theme to be searching for. For example things that a bird would use to build a home, nature treasures (it's amazing to see the simple things that children consider treasures,) special rocks....you get the idea. I think it is important for children to soak up all the beauty that is around them and learn to appreciate and open their eyes to things that we pass everyday and sometimes take for granted. We went out to collect natural art supplies after the wind storms last week. We collected lots of branches, pine cones and even tree stumps which we will turn into little outdoor chairs...eventually.
Yesterday we put those branches to good work turning them into Christmas stars. While Emma was at school I used yarn to connect the branches into star forms. When she got home she was thrilled to see the stars along with mod podge and glitter. She used a foam brush to cover the branches with the mod podge and then went to town with the glitter! After they dried we hung them with holiday ribbon and twine. We thought the perfect spot for these was next to our holiday cards on the chalk board.